DADAKOTA

He'd have been better off going 7-11 with weigh in and then 6-10 with weigh in. I understand it is for a good cause. 12 hours is ridiculous.

Can you fellas that have used these guides tell me what is the proper amount to tip a fishing guide? Is it a percentage?

As a tourney angler i believe there is more that can be done. In July and August there should be a 3 fish max and tourneys should last no more than 4 hours day or night. Three and a half hours is better. Fishing 6 to 8 hours with such high water temps is irresponsible IMO. Even more so when you are catching your fish out of 30+ feet of water.

Pretty easy in this state. Just look at the perennial powers. With that said, the Western half of Missouri high schools really seem to dominate in football.

I to love football. I know that the big time high school programs do their fair share of "doing whats best for the player" (aka doing what you have to do to win). From all state caliber kids just happening to transfer into the suburban school's area from the inner city on a regular basis. To players living with an aunt, a family friend, the coach, just to play on a given team. Outright recruiting to private schools and public schools. QB transferring from private school to public school because he wasn't going to start at private school because former pro-QBs kid arrives at private school along with a substantial donation. Kids caught stealing from their employer and selling merchandise to other players yet no charges filed or discipline from team. Kids caught smoking dope not allowed to start a game to teach a lesson instead of a suspension from school or an entire game(s). A player wrecks his vehicle after driving when he was too drunk to walk and almost loses his life. Local PD brings no charges of any sort, no suspension from school, and they bring kid out to the games in a wheel chair to "inspire" the team as he is the model student athlete. High school sports are so political at most schools and really dirty at a lot of them. Really no different than college or pro as drug, alcohol, fighting, domestic violence type issues with girlfriends, etc. are all problems in the high schools as well. Yet they are covered up more than the college or pro level. No reason to ruin a kids rep for the rest of his life so sweep it under the rug and let society deal with it later.

I have many, many bandits and most rarely get used. When trolling I use 300s exclusively. Here on Lake Jacomo the best two by far are silver with the black back and 3A01 - Bone. The only other ones I run at Jacomo is 3A20 - Threadfin Shad and at night or on real dark cloudy days they like solid black. For some off reason the Stockton fish have not liked Bone much. They do eat the silver black back one quite well along with mad cow, and various pink baits which seem to be the best. Going to try purple haze sparkle next time down.

Must be me with the flickrs, as the bandits flat out fish them when I'm pulling. I have all size 7 in hot pink, purple tiger, peral white (mouse), slick mouse, slick chart. pearl, slick racy shad, and racy shad. Did find a website that shows the "exclusive colors". Some really good looking colors at that. http://www.thenextbite.tv/content/berkley-flicker-shads-color-chart

Another triggering trick is to put the motor in neutral for a couple three seconds then back in gear. Your bait will slow its forward progress and start to rise. When you resume your speed it dart back to trolling depth. Some fish will hit as it rises and other just after you put her back in gear. I run flickrs and bandits at the same time and see if the fish have a preference.

While in the beginning stages of trolling you do not need line counter reels or special line. Let out a bunch of line and adjust from there. If not getting bit try a little longer or shorter. When you get bit take a sharpie and mark your line where it exits the reel. Makes it real easy to get the same amount out. Make turns gradually and I usually speed up just a hare to get the lines tracking straight again. When you hook a crappie don't slow down, but reel fast enough to get the fish on top then ski it to the boat. Be careful with a flopping fish in the boat and treble hooks flashing around. I typically use a pliers when unhooking crankbait fish. Dont be afraid to make a jog left or right while on a track. Starting into a jog your baits slow down a little and when you straighten back out they have a little burst of speed which often triggers a strike.

Might be best to ask for forgiveness instead of permission.

Very nice Ned Box. Let me know when I should provide you my address. I put together some crappie boxes several years back for my Dad, Son, and Nephew. Kept them from raiding my boxes until they needed to re-stock.

After researching the SDR it appears that the minimum speed to get the hook to spin properly is .7 mph. I believe the high end to be around 1.4, but the walleyes will let you know the correct speed that day. Most of the time I am in the slower end of the speed range .8 - 1 but have caught fish at 1.4. I did notice that the rigs I snelled the hook were tougher to keep the crawler from sliding down. BY leaving a small tag of line on my palomar the crawler does not slide down when you pull the crawler up over the hook eye, knot, and tag end of line. When using the roadrunners what weight head are you using? Are you casting them or dragging like a BB?

When bottom bouncing I fish 1 rod and try to keep it so when I drop the rod tip the bouncer contacts bottom. I usually am moving .9 to 1.3 mph. Others have told me they keep the bouncer 2-3 feet off bottom and use multiple rods in rod holders pulling around 1.5 mph. What is your go to method for bouncing?

Played the bottom bouncer with a slow death rig last weekend. Very slow. Only managed 3 keepers. Spent 1 morning in the State Park area and one around Hartley. The walleye I caught were all in 20 feet of water. Guess I should have tried a jig and crawler. Remember to open your box of crawlers before buying them. My wife picked up 2 boxes for me at Caseys. When I opened one of them the crawlers were dead.

Put in at State Park Saturday morning about 6 and was the only trailer in the lot. Saw a few boats on the water later on. Walleye were slooooow. Talked with one boat about a mile up from SP and they had caught a few with one keeper in about 20 feet of water. Fished till 2 and ended up with one walleye and one crappie. Caught the usual assortment of bass, bluegill, and catfish. The drum were wearing me out. Tried pulling cranks for an hour or so and caught a single bluegill on 300 bandit. Fished the confluence area Sunday and caught 10 walleye with 2 keeps. Must have been a bass derby Sunday as the glitter boats were out in force. Only had one jump in front of me on a point just up frpm Hawker. Thought about continuing my bottom bouncing course which would have taken me right next to their boat but I had other spots to fish. Big guy in the back wearing a bright yellow shirt throwing a jig didn't look like he was having too much fun anyway.

Might be best if you put your info on here in addition to the book of many faces. There are plenty of folks that do not fb.

There is a large segment of the boating population that have no business operating or owning a boat. I see evidence of this every time I go to the lake. It matters not whether a person hails from the City or the Country. So many folks assume that since they can drive a car they can jump in a boat and are an instant expert. It matters not where they live. What matters is if someone has taken the time to explain and teach them what they need to know. Then they need to heed this advice and take their time getting used to the boat and all that is involved with running and maintaining it. Get some hours behind the wheel or on the tiller. So many stories of things I have seen on the water or the ramp over the years that just make me shake my head. I have been on the water all my life. Dad started us out fishing out of canoes with small outboards or trolling motors on them. Lifejackets were mandatory. I was taught to always respect the water, the weather, other fishermen, and other boaters. I learned safety and common courtesy. Moved up to jonboats with outboards for fishing and duck hunting. Learned not to overload a boat, how to back trailers, ramp etiquette, taking boat on and off the trailer, docking, how to operate a runabout, pontoon, deckboat, and bassboat, how to pull skiers and tubers, and much more. I was also taught how to maintain the various boats, motors, trailers, and tow vehicles. I liked to drive the boat from a young age. I learned quickly that if you ran it like a jackleg you didn't get to drive for awhile. As Dad would say, go slow and learn the water you are on and the boat you are running. I was lucky to have been taught these things by my Dad, FIL, and my fishing partner. My kids have been on the water since they were little as well. They have been taught and are being taught these same things. Like other things in life, you learn something new every time you go on the water.

The film crew seemed in no hurry to get back to him or once aboard to get him to the hospital. No urgency whatsoever. Horrible boat driver. What kind of boat was that?

Nice. Hope to get a July walleye or four this weekend

Did the crappie trolling bite ever pick up? Pulled cranks the week after Memorial day and did not do to well. Thinking of heading down this weekend.

I have had more problem with their buzz bait blades. Have had them break the first day out of the package. Blades break long before you would even think of replacing the skirt. The life of the blade is measured in hours as I have yet to have one last a year.

All reels cast farther with a full spool. Those that hold tons of line means you will typically waste more line. I fill my reels with cheap cajun red mono in 14# to the point where I have about 2 longs casts worth of space left till its full. I then knot the line I will fish with to the cajun red backing and fill up the spool. This way I actually use the high dollar fluoro or braid for fishing instead of wasting it as backing. When you start seeing the cajun red after a cast you know it is about time to replace the fluoro. Your spool of fluoro lasts much longer and you actually fish with the entire spool over time. Your spool is always full or close to it with fresh line.

Some cheek meat on those.

Like others I have caught big fish with fast and slow baits and some in between. What I can say without a doubt is that when using any type of touch bait (jig, worm, senko, soft plastics, etc. with the exception possibly of a fluke) or a suspending stickbait, that I catch more fish and big fish by slowing down. I can't tell you how many fish I have caught or bites I have gotten when I talk on the cell, eat a sanwich, get a drink, etc. All cause me to slow down a gear or two and the fish love it.

That end of the lake is a summertime nightmare with all the big boats out and about. If it were me I'd go to Stockton and catch walleye.